Just Zelda
by InevitableConfusion
Summary: Hyrule's most precious princess was supposed to be well-behaved. She wasn't supposed to sneak out, and she most definitely wasn't supposed to go to gritty clubs. Alone. At night. / Zelink, modern AU


Well, would you look at that! I'm branching into two new fandoms in the same week! I must be crazy.

Seriously, though, I love the LoZ fandom. I've browsed the fics on this site for _years._ I've been really inspired to write lately (it's actually been a good _six years_ since I've felt this enthusiastic about writing), so I thought I'd try writing some zelink. This idea's been sitting in my mind for a while now. Glad to finally get it out.

I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Legend of Zelda.

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Just Zelda

Zelda stood on the street, jacket huddled tightly around her body as she squinted up at the building in front of her. Loud, muffled noises and a heavy base throbbed from behind closed doors. It was dark and very cold, but in the dim glow of the street lamp she could just barely make out a name printed in bold letters across the top of the building: _The Phoenix_. Yep, this was the place.

She wrinkled her nose as she stepped through the old door, out of the early autumn chill and into the musty room. Everywhere she looked there were hoards of people pressed right up against each other, the alcohol on their breath mingling with the scent of sweat. The smell certainly wasn't pleasant, but for a club, it definitely could've been a _lot_ worse. Some loud, simplistic beat blared from the speakers, the base pulsing down to her feet. She decided to have a seat at one of the small, quieter tables in the back and hurried to it, thankful for the dim lighting, but still opting to keep her hood up.

She didn't want anyone recognizing her.

After all, Hyrule's most precious princess was supposed to be well-behaved. She wasn't supposed to sneak out, and she _most definitely_ wasn't supposed to go to gritty clubs. Alone. At _night_.

She scoped the room quickly, gritted her teeth, and glanced at her phone. Still nothing. Where was Malon? The two girls had been planning this outing for about a week – something about Malon wanting to introduce her to some new people – but so far today she had yet to hear anything from the redhead. Why wasn't she answering? The girl was usually glued to her phone! Zelda sighed and sent her another quick text message, somehow knowing it was in vain. She decided to give her twenty minutes to respond before the blonde high-tailed it out of there.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. A hand that was much too big and rough to be Malon's. Her head shot up to see some creepy guy leering over her.

"Hey baby. Can I buy you a drink?" He gave her a smile that he probably thought was charming. It wasn't.

"No, thanks," she frowned, trying to shrug off his hand. It didn't move.

"Come on, sweetheart. Don't you want to have a little fun?"

Zelda tried not to gag. "Not with you."

"Aww, I'm hurt." He leaned closer to her and Zelda started to panic. "Why don't I just join you, then?"

"I'm… I'm here with someone, actually." Her composure was starting to slip, but she hoped her lie was convincing enough.

The guy laughed loudly. He didn't buy it. "You're cute, sweetheart."

"Don't call me sweetheart."

"Why not?" His grip on her shoulder tightened and his other hand started stroking her thigh.

She tried to push him away, but he didn't budge. "Get off me, you creep!" She was full-on panicking now. There was no way she could take on this man; he had to be at least twice her weight and a head-and-a-half taller than her. She really didn't want to cause a scene, but she was about two seconds away from yanking her hood down and exposing herself as the princess. It was the only thing she could do, and in the end her safety was the most important thing. Zelda grabbed the sides of her hood –

"What's going on here?"

Oh thank the goddesses.

Both of them whipped their heads around to face the source of the voice. A man stood across the table, holding a soda can in each hand and staring at the two of them. She couldn't see much of his features in the dim lighting, but from what she could tell, he had blond hair, a well-defined chin, and the most electrifying blue eyes she'd ever seen. His collared shirt hung loosely around his lean frame and his sleeves had been messily rolled up to his elbows. Handsome. Very handsome.

He gave her a pointed look and she caught on to what he was trying to say. He then glared at her assailant, his eyes glinting somehow in the dim light. "Are you harassing my date, Zant?" He sounded so threatening that even she got chills. Her eyes flicked down and caught the muscles on his forearms tensing.

_Play along_, he'd silently told her. She put on an air of coldness and looked up at this so-called Zant, crossing her arms tightly. His shocked gaze met her glare and she raised her eyebrows as if to say 'I told you so.'

"N-no, of course not," Zant stuttered, letting go of Zelda and backing away. "I… I was just – "

"Leaving?" the man cut in, "Because if I remember correctly, you're in violation of your probation. Unless you want me to notify the cops…?"

Zant paled visibly, "No, that's alright. I'm – I'm going." He turned on his heel and fled the scene. The man watched intently until he saw Zant waltz out the door.

He relaxed and turned to Zelda, sighing. "I'm sorry about that. Zant's not supposed to be out of his house." She didn't even want to know what he'd done. "Are you okay?"

No. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

He gave her a look, obviously not believing her. She started growing itchy under his silent gaze.

"Here," he spoke, voice soft, as he set one of the cans down in front of her. She flinched slightly out of reflex and cautiously looked over the object. Soda, unopened. She glanced up at him, hands slowly wrapping around the can.

"Are you sure? Won't your friend miss it?"

He smiled and shook his head. Logically, she should've been uncomfortable with him sitting uninvited at her table, but she felt a strange sense of comfort wash over her. "Nah, I'm sure that's the last thing she's thinking of right now."

_She?_ Zelda's heart sank in her chest and she mentally berated herself. Why was she disappointed? She didn't even know this guy! "So you're here with a date?" She popped open the tab on the can, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

His brow creased and he gave a quirky half-smile, crossing his arms on the table comfortably. "Oh, no. I came here with a friend who was trying to make her boyfriend jealous. They're currently off snogging in the corner." He nodded his head towards something behind her and she turned. Sure enough, two people were heavily making out in the dark corner of the bar. Zelda blushed and looked away, biting her lip to hide her smile.

"Really, now? _Just _to make him jealous?" She brought the can up to her lips.

"Cross my heart," he said as he crossed his heart with his finger. He rested his chin in his palm and watched her with those intense eyes. "So tell me, what's the Princess of Hyrule doing in a grubby bar?"

She choked as soon as the words left his mouth, fighting not to spit out her drink as she sputtered. He looked like he wanted to leap to her aid, but she recovered from her coughing fit fairly quickly. Zelda stared at him with wide eyes.

"_How did you know?_" she hissed.

"Well, considering your face is on nearly every piece of currency in Hyrule…" he trailed off, still looking concerned. "Seriously, are you okay?"

"M' fine," she mumbled, averting her eyes as heat crawled up her neck. How stupid was she? _No, duh_ people would recognize her! Her face was all over the money _and_ pasted on the news nearly every day! How could she have forgotten?

The stranger's eyes took on a teasing glint and he gave a goofy smile. "What, did you think I wouldn't be able to tell? Come on, Princess, you're pretty hard to miss. Even with your hood up." She didn't respond, feeling more embarrassment creeping across her face. He gave a good-natured laugh. "I'm just teasing you, Your Highness."

She snapped her eyes back to his and frowned. She hated it when people used formalities outside of formal situations. It made her feel like they cared more about her title than her person. She wasn't above anyone. "It's Zelda. Not Your Highness or Your Majesty or Princess. _Just _Zelda."

"Okay, _just _Zelda." He didn't seem fazed at all by her tone. He simply smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners. She felt her heart rate pick up its pace slightly, despite still being a bit miffed at the man.

She took a deep breath and let herself relax against the back of her chair, most of the tenseness draining out of her body. It was weird how this stranger had such an effect on her. She crossed an arm over her chest and held the soda in her other hand, still avoiding his gaze as best she could. "Don't… don't tell anyone I'm here, alright?"

He made a humming noise in response. Zelda guessed that was the best she would get. "If I may ask, why _are _you here?"

She glanced at him tentatively. There was no malice or accusation in his voice, just genuine curiosity. She figured she could humor him. "I was supposed to meet a friend here, but she hasn't showed up."

"Oh, then maybe I could help? I'm really familiar with the regulars at this bar. What's her name?"

"Malon."

He gave her a funny look. "Malon Ranch?"

She mirrored his look. "Yeah. You know her?"

"Yeah, she's actually one of my best friends."

"Oh." Zelda stared dumbly, not quite knowing what to say. She hadn't expected that. Malon never really mentioned any of her friends, other than the ones she wanted to introduce her… to… "_Oh._"

"Were _you _the person she was gonna have us meet?" The guy had apparently had the same epiphany.

She scratched her cheek nervously. "Y-yeah, I think so."

An awkward silence fell over them. After a moment, the man laughed incredulously. It was a nice sound. "Wow, small world, huh?" She found herself smiling along. His energy was contagious. "Well, it's a good thing I found you, then! She couldn't come so she wanted us to find you and let you know."

"Why couldn't she come? And why wouldn't she just tell me herself?" She was thoroughly confused.

The man looked nervous for some reason. "She kind of… um, she got grounded and can't use her phone."

Zelda felt the corners of her mouth twitch up. She had a feeling he had something to do with this. "…Why?"

"I kind of… well, I was teasing her about texting this guy named Shiek and, long story short, I sat on her phone and kind of… broke it." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away in embarrassment. Zelda nearly laughed. How ironic. Shiek was her codename. He continued, "I tried explaining it to her dad, but he still grounded her. She says it's alright but I still feel really horrible about everything. I'm gonna get her a new phone tomorrow."

Zelda grinned. "Well, that's nice of you."

He gave her a tentative smile. "It's only right."

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Zelda spoke. "Well, I'm probably gonna head out. Technically, I'm not supposed to be out of my room right now, so there's no point risking my father's wrath if Malon isn't coming. Not that you aren't nice company or anything."

The man raised his eyebrows but didn't comment on the fact that she'd snuck out. "Can I walk you to the door?"

She rummaged through her bag. "Sure. But won't your friends miss you?"

"Nah, I'm kind of the third wheel at this point. All of my friends have gone and coupled off." She pulled out a couple of rupees to repay him for the drink. When she offered them to him, he politely declined. She insisted that he take the rupees and, after some persuading, he grudgingly pocketed them.

Zelda made to stand when a thought struck her.

"I just realized I don't even know your name."

"Yep."

"So, what is it?"

"Not telling."

She pouted at his teasing smirk. "Come on, you know _my_ name! Fair trade!"

"If you ever think of going to another bar, try Telma's." Zelda was momentarily thrown off by such a sudden topic change; meanwhile, the man rummaged through his pocket and yanked out a crumpled piece of paper. "Got a pen?" Still confused, she handed him a pen. "Telma's the sweetest woman you will ever meet, and her bar is much the same way. It's a really quaint place. Very homey. No creeps allowed."

He scribbled something on the paper, presumably the address, and handed her back the pen. Then he crumpled the paper and stuffed it back into his pocket before standing up. Her confusion just grew.

The walk out was mostly silent. Zelda tried unsuccessfully to get his name a couple more times before giving up in a huff. They stepped out onto the sidewalk and she was surprised at how much warmer it had gotten. Deciding it wouldn't hurt since he already knew who she was, she decided to pull down her hood. The clean, cool air was refreshing and hinted at rain. She turned to look at her company and was frozen where she stood.

Wow. He was _really _attractive.

She stood gaping at him, her eyes flicking all around his face, trying to drink in the details and imprint them into her memory. Before long, she realized he was doing the same thing. He whispered something incoherent under his breath before meeting her gaze again. Her cheeks tingled.

"Well," he said quietly, "this is where we part." Before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand in his – _his hand was really warm – _and brought it to his face.

His eyes stayed locked with hers as he gently pressed his lips to her knuckles. Her mouth felt like cotton and she was too focused on staying upright to respond. In fact, she barely remembered to breathe. He pulled away and smiled gently, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

"I hope I'll see you around," he winked, "_Just_ Zelda."

She felt like she was on fire. Right before he dropped her hand and walked off, he pressed something small into her palm. She turned her hand over and opened it to find the crumpled up paper. Her brow furrowed. Why had he waited to give it to her now? Slowly, gingerly, she unfolded the paper.

On it was a string of numbers, followed by one word.

_Link._

Zelda felt her grin threaten to split her face. She felt like a stupid giddy schoolgirl and she didn't even care. She looked up just in time to see Link disappear around the corner. As soon as he did, another thought struck her.

She had never thanked him.

Well, only one thing she could do.

- O – O – O -

As soon as Link turned the corner, he nearly collapsed and slapped his hand to his face. Did he really just do that? Did he _really _just wink at the _Princess of freaking Hyrule?! _Farore, she _had_ to think he was an idiot at this point.

He just wanted to impress her! She was fun to talk to and strong and _oh Nayru _was she pretty. He was still wondering if it was the right move to give her his phone number. Maybe that was too forward? Sure, he was fine if she just wanted to be friends – he would love to have a friend like her – but seeing her smile, he couldn't help but wonder if… if, maybe… _nah_. A girl like that would never fall for a guy like him. He couldn't afford to get his hopes up.

But… surely she'd caught on to his flirting. He was obvious about it. (Maybe a little too obvious.) And she didn't reject that, so…

Nope. Not thinking about this anymore. What's done is done. Stupid or not, she had his number. He'd have to wait and see how everything else played out. He took a deep breath and walked down the sidewalk on shaky legs.

Link didn't have to wait long. The next morning, he woke up to his phone buzzing. He blinked blearily and opened the message. Unknown number.

_Link, huh?_

He grinned and pressed the reply button.

* * *

I had so much fun writing this. Normally it takes me a couple of hours to write a story about this size because I'm such a perfectionist, but I didn't have any trouble with this one. The ideas just kept flowing; it's a really refreshing change! And I really liked how it turned out (which literally _never_ happens).

Hopefully there isn't a tonal change in the story. My dog had a seizure in the middle of it, but she's better now. I don't think anything is noticeably different, but let me know if you spot anything!

Anyway, please leave a review and let me know what you thought! Anonymous reviews and constructive criticism is welcomed!

Vee


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